Prospect Watch: McDonald Roughed Up, Rain Washes Away Four Games

TOP OF THE SYSTEM

A look at how the current top 20 prospects did today. Note that this list doesn’t include players currently in the majors. If a player is in the majors, he will be removed, everyone below him will be shifted up a spot, and a new player will be added to the bottom of the list. Rankings are from the pre-season rankings, and links to each prospect writeup can be found by clicking the player names below. Players who weren’t in the original top 20 are linked to their player page on the site.

ORDER YOUR 2013 PROSPECT GUIDE

The 2013 Prospect Guide is now available, and is the perfect resource to follow the minor league system during the 2013 season. You can order your copy on the products page of the site. Order together with the 2013 Annual and save $5!

Game Notes: James McDonald made his third rehab start today, his first with Indianapolis. He did not do well, reaching his pitch count limit in the fourth inning. He gave up three runs on four hits and a walk, while Durham baserunners stole seven bases in seven attempts against the combination of McDonald and Tony Sanchez. Tim Alderson followed him and had troubles of his own, allowing eight baserunners and three runs in 3.1 innings. Josh Harrison had the only extra base hits for the Pirates, hitting two doubles. He now has 18 on the season in 42 games. Jerry Sands struck out in all four AB’s. Jared Goedert drove in both runs for Indianapolis.

AA: ALTOONA CURVE

Altoona was rained out today. The game will be made up on August 19th as part of a doubleheader.

A+: BRADENTON MARAUDERS

Bradenton was postponed yesterday due to rain and then the doubleheader today was canceled. The games will not be made up, as the two teams don’t meet again during the first half of the season.

Game Notes: West Virginia tried to finish yesterday’s game today, then play their regular scheduled game, but things didn’t go as planned. They only got two innings in before rain washed away the rest. It allowed them to make the first game official, but game two will now be made up on the road when the two teams meet next week. The Power had just one hit during the five inning contest, a single by Walker Gourley. Joely Rodriguez was the tough luck loser, allowing one run in three innings yesterday before the rains came. Jason Creasy finished the game off with two scoreless innings. Junior Sosa started the game last night, but he was assigned to Bradenton this morning, so he wasn’t around for the finish of the game.

Enjoy this story? Pirates Prospects will be switching to a subscription site on 4/13, so that we can continue bringing you the best Pirates coverage there is. For a very small monthly price, you can continue getting articles like this, along with coverage from every minor league city. Get more information here, and subscribe today!

John Dreker

John was born in Kearny, NJ, hometown of the 2B for the Pirates 1909 World Championship team, Dots Miller. In fact they have some of the same relatives in common, so it was only natural for him to become a lifelong Pirates fan. Before joining Pirates Prospects in July 2010, John had written numerous articles on the history of baseball while also releasing his own book and co-authoring another on the history of the game. He writes a weekly article on Pirates history for the site, has already interviewed many of the current minor leaguers with many more on the way and follows the foreign minor league teams very closely for the site. John also provides in person game reports of the West Virginia Power and Altoona Curve.